The Fall of Artanis
The Battle for Boria A summons was felt through the land of Namaria. Boria was under attack! Heroes far and wide answered the call and traveled to the city, but as soon as they stepped forth beneath its walls, the gates closed! They were trapped! A dark figure separated itself the shadows and approached the heroes. “I see that you have had an encounter with my fallen mortals…” The heroes had, but those creatures had been simple to defeat. Surely it could not be this easy? The figure laughed and revealed himself to the Heroes. It was Artanis! Once god of the Shadow Realm before he gave up his powers to stop Voltharamis, he was doomed to exist as a mere mortal in his realm, but now he has come to attack Namaria! “You don’t even understand the horrors my realm has endured due to its god being stripped of power,” He growled, “I have done EVERYTHING for my realm, made pacts with dark horrors you can never HOPE to comprehend. But now…. I have the power I need to return to Godhood. With the fallen, I. AM. INVINCEABLE!!!!” With these words, Artanis unleashed his power, resurrecting corpses from beneath the earth to aid him in battle. Once living breathing humans, their corpses now served Artanis in his fury, as the Fallen. With rotting flesh and clacking bones, they approached the Heroes who readied themselves against their onslaught. With swords, axes and bows, the heroes ripped through the wave of enemies. And though some fell, they stood firm against their enemies. Artanis was surprised. They were stronger than he had thought. Chanting incantations, Artanis prepared a powerful spell to push back the heroes. Crystals formed from his magic, giving him strength as he worked on his spell. Seeing this new danger, the Heroes fought more furiously, struggling to reach the crystals before the spell was complete. But though they fought valiantly, they failed. Artanis was stronger than ever. With his new strength, Artanis summoned forth terrible new creatures to his side, even resurrecting some the fallen Heroes themselves to aid him! The Heroes pushed back against the new wave, but they were tiring. Wounded as they were,, they began to despair their inevitable loss. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an object in the sky appeared out of the darkness. It was a Xenin warship! Traveling through the cosmos, they have now arrived to attack this land and its inhabitants. The ship readied its canons onto the battle before them as its captain called down through the speakers. “Surrender! You are outnum-GURHUK!” A blast of magic hit the ship at that instant. Artanis grinned to himself as the ships occupants began twisting, morphing, changing into more Fallen. With new fresh strong warriors, the Heroes were doomed. Slammed back by the army they attempted fruitlessly to stay alive, even as their comrades tumbled one by one to the ground around them. As the ship powered up its Chaos laser upon the battle, all seemed lost. But then, a roar echoed the air stunning the combatants. A ferocious dragon coming seemingly from nowhere attacked the warship, tearing through the hull with its claws and teeth. The ship lurched as essential mechanics were destroyed eventually exploding and filling the air with smoke and flames. The heroes cheered, perhaps all was not lost. These events filled them with new energy, able to turn back the tide of enemies. Artanis was furious… and terrified. This was the Cloud Serpent, guardian of the Overworld. If he was here….. but no! She was gone! This battle must end, and soon. Artanis finally revealed himself, and with his army attacked head on. But it was too late, the Heroes had regained their hope and fought with the Cloud Serpent. Artanis, along with his army was defeated. But though he lay weakened on the ground, he laughed.“Mortals cannot kill a god.” He laughed, spraying blood in their faces. “Too bad you aren’t mortal….” a voice said. An Unexpected Twist Gracefully lighting down upon the battlefield was the winged form of Lexstrazian! Goddess of the Overworld, she had disappeared millennia ago, choosing to let her creations live their lives without interference. But now, she has come to defend her children. As she walked toward Artanis, the Cloud Serpent bowed, wings extended talon tip to tip in reverence.“……they might have given you a better fate.”She finished as she drew her blade into his chest. Artanis fell, blood spurting from his wound. With pure hatred in his eyes, he gasped for breath until finally, death clouded his eyes. The battle was over. Lexstrazian looked toward her weary and bloodstained creations with love in her eyes. They have accomplished so much more than she ever could dream. Without a word, she spread her wings to fly just as the ground erupted next to her, spewing aside dust and shards of rock. A massive black tentacle wrapped itself around her and smashed her against the hard packed earth. The Cloud Serpent screamed in fury seeing his mistress fall. With the full force of his might, he sprang towards her but was slammed back by another tentacle. Trapped, he clawed at the appendage to no avail. A voice laughed, amused by the events taking place. “Excellent, it would seem that my plan worked,” It cackled. Horrified, the Heroes once more readied their weapons. “Reveal yourself!” they cried.“Very well, not that it matters in the least. I am Xariv. I am the right arm of Voltharamis, and I have been tasked to destroy the only one who could stop him. And all it took was to give that pathetic fool Artanis some of my powers. But in the end, it was necessary to draw you out Lexstrazian”.“No….. not only me. My…. Children….. they will stop you. Because you underestimate them…. They will be your undoing….” She gasped from pain.“You really think they have a chance? Perhaps you are a bigger fool than Artanis. No matter. Tonight, their last hope of salvation will permanently be extinguished.”Xariv flexed his tentacle and killed her instantly, crushed by the weight of his appendage. “Now, with that out of the way, the invasion of your world……” End part one